Epsilon: Meliphas
by SaintofChaos
Summary: Jack is left in a critical condition after an ambush committed by Airachnid, and the mysterious Meliphas, but the name becomes more than that of a mystery, and threatens to tear Jack's reality apart. A THIRD attempt at a sequel to Epsilon, you won't understand this unless you read it. C
1. Chapter 1

Meliphas watched as the obsidian jet flew through the air, his bright green optics following the triangular object as it speed towards it's destination, he waved his staff forward towards the boys location, the clatter of the femme, Airachnid's multiple peds echoed through the canyon as the two followed the speeding craft, his skeletal form creating a demonic shadow in the dirt. He quickly stooped, with Airachid hanging overhead in the shadows as the jet transformed into a tall slim figure who approached the stack of energon, the femme moved forward but Meliphas held up his right servo, his talon-like fingers hanging before her head, but as the figure approached the Energon he raised his scythe-staff and fired a bolt, it hit the black armoured figure, who quickly fell as pink energy coursed over it's body. He nodded his head as he and Airachnid scuttled forward, his skeletal body covered by a black shroud while Airachnid quickly over lapped as they came to the now still Jack. She smirked as she hoisted him up for Meliphas to inspect, he smiled, his almost elven features aged beyond comparison. Airachnid quickly bound Jack with webbing while Meliphas watched his communicator flicker to life, the two glanced to each other in worry as his skeletal servo grasped it and he adjusted a knob on the side of his neck before speaking into it;

"Hello, who is this?"

A voice returned, it was that of the femme, the one his current partner had the obsession off, she spoke with concern, which Meliphas smirked at, the fear of others was something to savour;

"Jack, are you OK?"

He spoke back, his voice an almost perfect mimic of the concerned, but he had to hold back the building emotion of dark glee as he spoke;

"I'm fine, the signal was a bust, just a minor vein, we won't gain anything from this, I'll be back soon."

He deactivated the comm and smashed it with his ped, it's talon toes crushing it and leaving a gouge in the ground as he nodded for Airachnid to lay him down, he drew a sacrificial knife, it was silver with a line of red down the side. He raised it over the boys stomach, but the reeve of an engine caused the two to raise their heads as they turned to the form of Arcee, who had her blasters aimed at both Meliphas and Airachnid's heads. Airachnid began to back away, raising her servos while Meliphas held the knife close, but the Autobot femme kept her weapons ready. But sudden movement caught Meliphas's attention as Jack broke free and swept at him, catching him with a swift strike and digging into the mech's knee and sending him stumbling backwards. Meliphas roared, drawing his staff and clumsily swiping at Jack, but the old mech missed and a second strike connected to his gut, causing him to shriek. Meliphas snarled as he gained his ground, still weakened and limping from before, but as Jack approached he raised his staff and a lance of energy burnt through Jack's chest, leaving a deep gouge. Meliphas's optics's widened in horror, watching as the boy fell to the ground in agony. Damnation, he needed the boy alive for now, the dagger wasn't meant to kill, it would just finalise the situation but this could put the two back months.

"Fuck."

Jack collapsed, panting as he felt the gouge in his chest, oh god the pain, it was just bellow his Spark Chamber, but he'd underestimated the skeletal being and now, he was almost certain his death was upon him. The lance of energy had pierced his armour and burnt his insides, tears of energon and blood flooding freely as he screamed and wailed, but the attacker simply stumbled away, while his vision blurred, he caught sight of Airachnid and Arcee fighting. He reached out, but collapsed in pain to the ground, blood staining the sand and dirt as his body simply refused to move. He closed his optics, the pain finally over coming him.

Arcee dodged and returned attacks from an uncommonly stern and unfocused Airachnid, who was missing several limbs and armour was battered, but a shriek of pain from Jack cost Arcee's attention and allowed Airachnid to throw her back, she pushed her self up, watching as the skeletal thing called for Airachnid, but she turned to Jack in shock, he lay on the ground, bleeding and in uttermost agony as he howled and screamed, she sped forward and dropped down beside the now silent Jack. She looked in utter horror and sorrow at the wound he had sustained, a deep gouge, burned into his chest, revealing twisted wires and broken bones. He'd fallen limp and silent, she held him close, speaking in a whisper as the attackers fled, tears in her eyes as she spoke;

"Jack, hold on, don't die, oh Primus don't die..."

His optics where dim, they flickered opened as he tried to speak, but nothing but a chocked sentence of half sane words as his mind became effected by his wounds, Arcee's optics widened in horror and fear as she activated her comm, almost screaming as she spoke;

"Ratchet, Ratchet I need a ground bridge now! NOW!"

A swirling green portal opened before Arcee and Jack, the femme dragging the silent seeker through as Ratchet emerged. He gasped at the sight of Jack and quickly took him from a concerned Arcee and speed towards the medical bay, laying him down on the berth and grabbing Syrath's tool kit from the desk beside him, hoping he could save the boy from almost certain death...  
Meliphas stumbled forward and collapsed, his spindly limbs holding him up as he panted, his plan had failed, and it would have more consequences than having to wait longer, he felt a hand around his sinewy neck and was pulled up by Airachnid, she snarled as violently shook him, before throwing him down;

"You idiot! We could have done this here, then deposited Jack somewhere near their, but your incompetence cost us!"

Meliphas blocked an angered blow from Airachnid, who stood over him, enraged by his failure, but as she prepared to strike him again, the sinewy figure spoke;  
"Or...we may have strengthened our plans, the boys curiosity and the femme's first for revenge form a grand incompetence that will benefit both of us, in the long run."

Airachnid's anger lowered, but spite remained strong as she spoke, pointing a talon at the recovering form of Meliphas, who balanced himself on his staff;

"You'd better be right Meliphas!"

Meliphas chuckled, his glee great;

"I am always right."

**Hello, if anyone has had the courage to read this horrid THRID attempt at a sequel to my plot hole ridden, stale(er) than bread story called Epsilon, I salute you and award you a medal. If you haven't ran in sheer terror at the horror of this story, please take the time to pick it apart and review it. **  
**Please, rate and review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews **

Meliphas sat, cross legged and half-awake in a trance before a silver orb, held in place by strange idol of a leering demonic face. It was covered by a hexagon pattern, each representing a rune in some ancient and dead language. He placed his hand atop it, his fingers slipping onto the symbols as he mumbled in a dark echo of his voice, his optics opened wide as the runes lit up, forming a new pattern as they shifted and re-shaped before forming a new image. He smiled gleefully and stood up, balancing his weakened form on his obsidian staff and donning a tattered black hood, lined with Cybertronina symbols and ancient writings as he plucked the orb from its stand and watched as it glowed with power. The chambers door slid open, steeping out an impatient Airachnid, who sighed at the sight of Meliphas toying with the orb, speaking in a angered tone she bore down on the scrawny being;

"Have you finished yet? All you do is skulk in empty temples and chambers toying with trinkets and ancient objects that bare no use, its intolerable, what have you uncovered that has been useful to _our_ goal Meliphas?"

Meliphas's optic's narrowed as he turned his head to Airachnid, his forked tongue sliding out from the gaps in his demonic denta as he spoke, his voice full of annoyance and anger;

"Ignorance in its highest form Airachnid, highest form, patience is a blessing and with it I have found new bait and a way to bring the boy to us. His courage and willingness to save those in need is a curse in disguise, he will falter once he sees this, which will be soon enough for I have found an answer to our problems. An Iacon relic named the "Crown of Vizier", it is a gift from the gods in a way, and if legend be true, it will give us power beyond _our_ imagining."

Airachnid scoffed at the words of the shrouded Mech, his words delusional in her opinion;

"And you don't think the Autobot's or Decepticon's will be also hunting it? We could be surrounded by any side in minutes, if not both!"

Meliphas chuckled as he walked past Airachnid, his voice full of pious glee;

"I'm counting on _it_."

Jack moaned and pained, his chest wired up several machines and his armour cracked and burnt, by his side Ratchet monitored his condition, the medic concerned due to the seekers partially human biology. He watched as Jack's optic's onlined, the mech's head turned to Ratchet, struggling to rise as he tried to talk to Ratchet, his voice wheezing and crackling as he spoke;

"Ratchet…..where….what happened?"

The Mech groaned as he grabbed his chest, the lance of energy still burning through his systems, Ratchet pushed Jack back down and helped him lay down;

"You were ambushed, Arcee said by Airachnid and another mech, but she could not identified him, you took severe damage just below your Spark Chamber, by some form of 'energy lance' of what appears to be energon, you may take some time to recover."

Jack nodded, looking down at the burnt and cracked armour that once formed his chest plating, but something caught his eye, there was no one else in the base, he turned to Ratchet who was cleaning his tools;

"Where are the others Ratchet?"

Ratchet turned too Jack, the mech still sitting on the medical berth, dim optics and in a hunched position, not wishing to feel useless when the others where in need, Ratchet spoke in a toneless voice as he turned away;

"We discovered another Iacon artefact signal. "

Meliphas watched as the Decepticon Miners and Vehicons began to dig up the object he sought, he raised a servo to and approaching Airachnid, she scowled as Meliphas studied the busy Decepticons, his hands rubbing together as the first shots were fired by the arriving Autobot's, and the Vehicon's rushed forward. He cackled, turning away and smirking as Airachnid sighed and followed;

"There stratagem is non-existent, they charge and hope for the best, well, time to collect our package, come Airachnid."

The two quickly darted forward, quickly leaping over the cliff face and slamming into the ground, they looked up at the sight of the two remaining Decepticon Miners, desperately trying to remove the large jar wedged in the ground. Meliphas raised his staff, causing a pair of bright pink beams to severe the Miners heads from their necks; he chuckled as he moved forward, standing over the silver jar. He plucked its lid from the top and found himself looking down on a small crown; it was silver and marked by odd runes, which Meliphas laid eyes on with pure unbridled glee. He studied it's metallic surface and cackled with joy as placed it atop his spiked scalp, Airachnid scowled, she pushed Meliphas to the ground and placed one of her blade like servos to his neck;

"It's some trinket? A shiny trinket, you pitiful whelp! I should skewer you!"

Airachnid was sent flying back from a bolt of energy produced by Meliphas, her chest burnt and cracked as he howled and crackled as he spoke in a choked and hollow voice, something possessing him to go onto further acts of chaos as ethereal fire burst from his hands, the skeletal being turning to a rising Airachnid;

"Trinket, ha foolish Spider, this trinket is a gift from the gods! And just another piece in our plan, but I suspect interlopers will arrive soon enough."

The decrepit mech and the spider bot turned to the arriving Autobot's, who activated their ranged weapons and took aim as Meliphas twirled his staff and smirked, his horrid smile revealing his beastly denta and forked tongue. The femme moved forward, speaking to her comrades while keeping her weapons aimed down on the two;

"That's the 'con that ambushed Jack, and _Airachnid_."

Meliphas laughed slyly, his snarling and chuckling drawing the Autobot's attention as he paced and eyed each of the Autobot's, his bright green optic's scanning their forms;

"So, I have yet to introduce myself to you, my name is Meliphas and you may question why I have come here? Why did I attack the boy Jack, and why I am wasting my valuable time to explain simple facts to you children, well, I apologise I must be going, vermin are not of my concern."

Meliphas began to retreat with Airachnid as a ground bridge opened up behind them, Meliphas cocked his head but fell back as a black jet sped out….

**Next time: Meliphas reveals his plans **


End file.
